CARNAHAN VETOES STUDY OF POSSIBLE USE FOR VACANT HOSPITAL BUILDING

Supporters of a plan to develop a family resource center in Cape Girardeau said they haven't given up on the concept of one-stop social services despite the governor's veto of funding for a feasibility study.

Gov. Mel Carnahan earlier this month vetoed a $27,500 line item in the budget that would have determined the feasibility of converting the vacant old St. Francis Hospital into a family resource center.

Carnahan said the state's Division of Design and Construction concluded the building would need extensive renovation, including the removal of asbestos and replacement of all major mechanical and electrical systems.

"The building would require very extensive work, at a considerable expense, before it would benefit Missouri's citizens as a support center," he wrote in his veto message.

State Rep. Mary Kasten, R-Cape Girardeau, was disappointed by the governor's action.

Kasten has worked with local representatives of social service agencies in an effort to secure funding for the project.

"We are certainly not going to give up on the family resource concept," said Kasten, who helped spearhead the project.

Ron Swift, executive director of the Southeast Missouri Private Industry Council, serves on the Family Resource Center board. The board is trying to establish such a center.

He said it could cost $5.5 million to renovate the vacant building on Good Hope.

Swift said the board wants such a facility in the southeast part of the city, which is home to many of those served by social service agencies.

But he said the board would consider other sites besides the vacant hospital building, or even the possibility of new construction.

Swift said the board currently has neither a facility, nor money for such an operation.

Swift said it is "an idea and a lot of energy, and that is about all."

Board members want to make social services more accessible to people.

The idea is to provide one-stop shopping for everything from welfare to employment training by having representatives of various agencies at one location.

Such a resource center could even include a police substation, Swift said.

There are only a few such centers nationwide. "The concept is still new," said Swift. "We are still learning how to do it right."